Developing partnerships to fund technology: Perceptions and practices of public school District Technology Contacts in the Education Service Center, Region XIII, Texas

The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the extent to which public schools are involved in the practice of developing technology partnerships; (2) to determine the perceptions public school District Technology Contacts have regarding the feasibility of developing partnerships as an alternative funding method for technology; (3) to determine perceived strengths and weaknesses of actual technology partnerships according to the District Technology Contacts; and (4) to determine perceived strengths and weaknesses of actual technology partnerships according to the External Resource Providers.;In order to pursue the purposes of this study, a survey instrument was developed by the researcher. The instrument gathered demographic information, current district practices, respondent perceptions, and the strengths and weaknesses of both District Technology Contacts and External Resource Providers.;Data were gathered by mailing the instrument to the defined population of the forty-seven public school districts served by the Education Service Center, Region XIII, Texas. A 79.66 percent level of response was received. Additional data were gathered from twelve of the fifteen districts that reported having technology partnerships. Each of the twelve External Resource Providers involved in the technology partnerships also provided data. Based on the data analyzed, the following conclusions were derived. (1) Partnership development practices and fund raising strategies are not in general use in public school districts in ESC, XIII. (2) Most educators agree that partnership development practices and fund raising strategies are good ideas and would be viable for schools to use to fund technology. (3) Both the District Technology Contacts and External Resource Providers saw similar strengths and weaknesses: partnerships are good for all parties; the partner can serve as a mentor for teachers and students; collaboration can be cost effective; and the district gains expertise from the partner. (4) There are weaknesses to partnership development: a lack of knowledge of partnership development; serious time and energy constraints; and limited access to partners by rural schools.